A blockbuster Doha quarterfinal between Rafael Nadal and Ernests Gulbis is on tap for Thursday. One of the only two remaining seeds will advance to the semis. Hasan Murad previews the action.
Rafael Nadal and Ernests Gulbis will battle against each other for the second time at this very same stage of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open when they collide during quarterfinal action on Thursday.
Nadal won their previous Doha encounter 7-6(3), 6-3 in 2011. Overall, this will be the seventh installment (fourth on a hard court) of their rivalry, which has been perfectly dominated by Nadal. Interestingly, however, that 2011 Doha collision is the only one of the Spaniard’s six victories over Gulbis that has ended in straight sets.
In his two victories so far this week over Lukas Rosol and Tobias Kamke, Nadal was far from his best in every facet of his game. The top seed, though, is a player who builds confidence with every single win better than arguably anyone else. He showed plenty of improvement in his second match but he will have to leap into a new gear if he is to foil the impending threat in the form of a very talented ball-striker in Gulbis.
Having failed on two previous quarterfinal occasions in Doha (2010 and 2011), Gulbis is aiming to earn a berth in the semis for the first time. The 24th-ranked Latvian booked his spot in the last eight after needing three sets to dispatch both Daniel Evans and Lukas Kubot.
Several times the hard-hitting Gulbis has claimed his game stacks up well against Nadal, who greatly relies on heavy topspin on his groundstrokes. Given how tantalizingly close their two encounters in 2013 were and the fact that four of Nadal’s six wins against Gulbis have translated into eventual title victories for the current world No. 1, there are clear indicators that Gulbis draws the best out of his Spanish nemesis.
“He’s a player you don’t want to meet because he hits every ball very hard with a very strong serve, first and second serve,” Nadal said of Gulbis. “Then he hits every ball very, very, very fast from the baseline; forehand, backhand…. So he’s a difficult player to play against.”
Based on the current forms of both players and the court conditions, Gulbis stands a good chance to atone for his poor record against Nadal. However, it remains to be seen if the temperamental underdog can match Nadal’s mental tenacity.
Pick: Nadal in 3 competitive sets.
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